A. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention relates generally to apparatuses utilized to support and transport injured or incapacitated patients for emergency medical treatment. More specifically, this invention relates to stretchers and backboards that are configured to be collapsible so as to be easily transported to locations that are generally inaccessible to ambulances and other large vehicles. Even more specifically, this invention relates to such stretchers and backboards that are configured to be towed by a bicycle, motorcycle, snow mobile, personal watercraft, person, dog, horse or other towing systems.
B. Background
Many people enjoy participating in outdoor activities such as running, hiking, mountain climbing and the like, many of which occur in somewhat or very remote locations, including mountains, beaches and woods. Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks of many of these activities for the outdoor enthusiast is the danger of serious injury or illness in an area that is difficult for emergency personnel to reach, particularly with the emergency equipment needed to stabilize, treat and transport the injured person. As is well known, when an injury or serious illness does occur in a remote or hard to reach location, it can then be very difficult to safely transport the injured or incapacitated person from the remote location to a medical facility for treatment. This problem is particularly an issue in areas where roads are either non-existent, too narrow or otherwise unsuitable for a typical full-sized vehicle, such as an ambulance or fire truck, to traverse. In such situations, it is necessary to use either a helicopter to reach the injured or incapacitated person or for a team of emergency medical service personnel, such as paramedics or other rescue personnel, to hike through difficult and often dangerous terrain to reach the injured or ill person (hereinafter “patient”). In the helicopter rescue scenario, the helicopter lowers emergency rescue personnel and a stretcher, backboard or other lifting device to the patient, who is then loaded onto the lifting device and raised up into the helicopter for transport to a hospital. In the hike-in scenario, once the patient is reached the rescue team must physically lift and carry the patient on a stretcher or backboard as they hike back to safety, which can be dangerous and time consuming for the rescue team and patient.
In any medical emergency situation it is usually desirable to immobilize the patient as much as possible to avoid further injury during movement of the patient from the injury site to a location for further treatment or to an ambulance or other vehicle for transport to a hospital. For many years, the apparatus of choice to move a patient to a place of further treatment or a vehicle was a stretcher, which in its basic form comprises a pair of elongated rail-like support members with a fabric or other generally flexible material stretched between the two support members. Typically, the ends of the stretcher have handles which the rescue personnel utilize to carry the patient on the stretcher. To some extent, stretchers of this type have fallen out of favor because of the inability to immobilize the patient, due generally to the flexibility of the material, while transporting the patient. A more modern approach is to utilize a generally flat, stiff backboard instead of the stretcher due to its ability to better immobilize the patient. The typical backboard, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 6,055,988 to Perisho, U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,883 to Fangrow, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,912 to Scheidel, et al. and Des. 413,553 to Ferko, III, comprises a rigid elongated board member having hand holds and one or more strap cavities for receiving straps to secure the patient to the board member. Generally, the patient is placed on the backboard with the straps used to tightly secure the patient to the backboard so as to prevent movement of at least the injured area of the patient's body.
One of the difficulties with using a stretcher or backboard to move an injured person from the place of injury to a place where he or she can be better treated or be transported to a hospital is quickly getting the stretcher or backboard, as well as other medical supplies, to the injured person's location. In cases where there is significant trauma, as is often the case where emergency personnel are needed, speed and a streamlined manner of working can be a matter of life and death, making it imperative to reach the patient for transport to a medical facility as quickly as possible. Waiting for the arrival of medical supplies and equipment can be very detrimental to the patient. To speed the delivery of medical treatment to injured persons, many cities, counties or other municipalities have initiated the use of deploying emergency medical personnel on small vehicles (including bicycles, motorcycles, snow mobiles and personal watercraft, such as jet skis and the like), on foot or on horseback in areas where and at times when emergency medical services are likely to be needed. For instance, during a marathon or other running race emergency medical technicians or EMTs may be deployed on a bicycle in the area of the race. EMTs may also be deployed on bicycles during bicycle races, mountain biking competitions and like events. In addition, bicycle deployed EMTs are also assigned to patrol beaches, mountains, parks and other areas where people are known to gather for recreational activities that may result in the need for emergency medical treatment. EMTs have also been deployed on motorcycles, personal watercraft and snow mobiles, as appropriate for the terrain and conditions as a routine safety precaution.
One of the major benefits of deploying EMTs on a small vehicle, on foot or on horseback is that they can be somewhat more readily available when someone gets injured or becomes seriously ill. By already being deployed, as opposed to being at a station or the like and then deploying when called, the time between the injury occurring and an EMT arriving at the location of injury can be significantly reduced. In addition, the deployment of EMTs on foot, horseback or small vehicles is substantially less intrusive on the outdoor activities, particularly competitions or other events where there may be large crowds of people, than the deployment of ambulances or other full sized vehicles. Another important advantage of such deployment is that the EMT on foot, horseback or small vehicle is much more likely to be able to reach an area where a person has become injured, particularly areas that are remote or that require the traversing of rough terrain, than the full sized vehicle. As set forth above, very often injuries occur in areas that do not have roads or are otherwise inaccessible to full sized vehicles. In such situations, the EMT will travel on foot, horseback or on the small vehicle, such as a bicycle, to the location of the injured person in order to initiate medical treatment and/or to provide for the evacuation of the patient.
One of the major limitations with the deployment of EMTs or other medical personnel on foot, horseback or small vehicle is the need to carry sufficient medical supplies in order to be of beneficial assistance to an injured person. Naturally, the EMT is limited to the medical supplies and equipment that he or she can carry on their person or what can be attached to or towed by the horse or small vehicle. For instance, most foot and some bicycle deployed EMTs have a backpack that they wear which carries a supply, somewhat limited, of medical materials. Some bicycle bound EMTs utilize a small tow-behind trailer that attaches to the bicycle to carry medical supplies. Motorcycle and snow mobile deployed EMTs have also been known to utilize small trailers to carry medical supplies and equipment. While many of the medical supplies that may be useful to an EMT or other medical personnel can be carried in a backpack or on a small trailer, a stretcher or backboard cannot be as easily carried. Even if a stretcher or backboard can be carried by a foot bound EMT or towed behind a horse or small vehicle, the use thereof presents a practical problem, namely what does the EMT do with the patient once he or she is placed on and/or secured to the stretcher or backboard. Because a single EMT cannot safely carry or otherwise move an injured person on a stretcher or backboard, the EMT must have other people, preferably trained personnel, assist him or her with the movement of the patient. The safe and effective utilization of a stretcher or backboard requires the use of at least two people, but preferably four people with one positioned at each corner, to carry a patient on the stretcher or backboard. Unfortunately, the need to have this assistance can significantly delay the amount of time required to get the patient to the hospital, typically via a waiting ambulance or other emergency vehicle, which can have adverse consequences for the patient.
Issues with regard to needing multiple persons to transport an injured person on a stretcher or backboard is not limited to situations of injuries that occur during outdoor activities. For instance, during military or major police operations people are likely to get injured. The evacuation of the injured person from the area, such as a battlefield, will require the assistance of multiple persons to move the patient to an area out of harms way. During military operations this can be a significant issue for the deployment of troops sufficient to carry out their mission. As well understood in the military, injuries on a battlefield present a particular problem for maintaining battlefield operations due to the fact that a single injured person can tie up or otherwise substantially remove four or more other soldiers from the action while they assist with the evacuation of the injured person on a stretcher or backboard. Naturally, this is likely to reduce the effectiveness of and create more danger for the remaining soldiers. As a result, it is desirable to provide a device that also reduces the need for assistance to remove an injured soldier or other person from a battlefield.
A number of prior patents have attempted to address the issue of improved patient transport on a stretcher or backboard. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,845,533 to Tulette discloses a patient transport device having a flat rigid board with a pair of foldable runners attached to the sides thereof for moving a patient up or down a flight of stairs or other such surface. In one embodiment, an axle and wheel assembly is attached to one end of the board for easier patient maneuverability, via a dolly like operation, through tight areas like narrow hallways or corridors. U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,063 to Selby discloses a patient carrier device dolly assembly that has a box frame with wheels mounted thereto and in which is received one end of a patient carrier device, such as a backboard, to allow the user to move a patient on the carrier device by tilting it like a standard dolly. Other prior art patents are directed to stretchers which are configured to be collapsible or disassemblable. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,921 to Avni, et al. discloses a portable collapsible stretcher that has a pair of elongated frame poles having multiple joints for folding the poles lengthwise and one or more collapsible spreader bars for folding the frame widthwise. A flexible support sheet is suspended from the frame poles to provide the weight-bearing platform for carrying the patient. U.S. Pat. No. 6,842,923 to Castellani et al. discloses a lightweight decontaminable composite stretcher having a molded frame assembly comprising a pair of frame poles interconnected by a collapsible spreader bar to maintain the poles in a laterally spaced arrangement and a bed member for supporting and carrying the patient. The frame poles have multiple hinges to facilitate folding the stretcher for storage and transport. U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,556 to Haeussinger discloses an extrication splint for accident victims that is assembled beneath an injured person at the accident site to move the person to a gurney or like device. The splint comprises a plurality of cross-bars which are slid beneath the victim and parallel side-rails, having jointed segments to accommodate the natural bends of the human body, assembled to the crossbars to form a rigid structure to remove the patient from accident site, such as the interior of a vehicle. While the foregoing disclose mobile stretcher or backboard mechanisms and stretchers that are collapsible or disassemblable, none of these devices are particularly useful for the foot, horseback or small vehicle bound EMT or other medical personnel to easily and readily have a stretcher or backboard with them and then be able to transfer a patient away from the injury site on the stretcher or backboard without assistance from one or more other persons. In fact, a major shortcoming of most of the prior art patient carrier devices is that more than one person is needed to lift and move the device once the patient is secured to its surface. In times where manpower is limited, this can render the device all but useless. Devices that are configured to more easily move a patient do so in a dolly-like manner and do not provide for easy movement of the device to the injured person, particularly in a remote or hard to reach area.
What is needed, therefore, is a patient transport device that can be configured as a stretcher or backboard which is sturdy, lightweight and collapsible so that it may be easily transported to an accident site and then reassembled for removing an injured or incapacitated person from the site for further treatment and/or transport to a hospital. In its collapsed condition, the preferred patient transport device should provide a surface upon which medical supplies and/or equipment can be secured and carried, thereby enabling the rescue or medical personnel to easily transport the medical supplies and/or equipment to the injured person. The preferred patient transport device should also be configured to be easily pulled or towed behind an EMT or other person who is on foot, horseback or small vehicle for transport of the stretcher or backboard to where the injured person is located and then transport of the patient on the stretcher or backboard away from the injury location without the assistance of other persons in order to allow an EMT or other rescue personnel to more quickly respond to and transport accident victims. The preferred patient transport device should be adaptable to be towed behind a person on foot, a horse or other animal, or a small vehicle, such as a bicycle, motorcycle, snow mobile or personal watercraft in a variety of different terrains. The preferred patient transport device should also be configured for easily, quickly and securely going from its collapsed condition to its extended condition for use as a stretcher or backboard.